Deluded
by Train Costello
Summary: What if none of it really happened? --A twisted take on the life of Edward Elric.


Edward Elric suspects there is little wrong with him.  
Sometimes--and those that untimely acknowledge his height can attest to this--he is prone to flying off the handle. True, he can be dangerously aggressive at times, but who is without their vices, their strange, maybe borderline-maladaptive quirks?  
Edward accepts the fact that he is quirky. He does not appreciate it, however, when "the others" try to attribute his quirks to some greater cause. For example, the others often indicate his ambidextrousness--a skill he finds fortunate, considering his right hand is prosthetic. The others also speculate that he was winter-born--that, while in utero, Mother's body was assaulted with sickness after sickness. Also, they believe Father's body was perhaps a little past its prime during conception.

The others insist these things are significant. Edward just rolls his eyes.

But, as with any human being, Edward is comprised of more than just quirks. He has, in fact, quite a history. At a young age, he tried to resurrect his deceased mother using an ancient science known as alchemy. He failed miserably and connects this to his prosthetic arm and leg. He later joined the military at just age twelve and seized the exclusive honor of being a "State Alchemist".

"Child prodigy", "Hero of the People", "the Fullmetal Alchemist"--Edward Elric, a tremendous sensation at only fifteen, was world-renowned as perhaps one of the most talented alchemists in history.

It annoys him when the others do not recognize him as so. "Delusions of grandeur." The others describe his past this way, dismiss his entire life as fictional. Too skeptical. If they had known him in "his" world, he could have made them believe anything. He could have convinced them that the dead walk among the living even--which they do.

They are called Homunculi, and Edward has had more than one close encounter with these creatures before. They want something from him because only he possesses the facilities to create it. Because they can appear in virtually every location he occupies, Edward finds he has little peace of mind until they are destroyed. Sometimes he destroys them again and again and nothing happens.  
They also have a master. Their master thinks he is very special--she wants that thing he can make even more than the Homunculi do and will stop at nothing to make certain it is within her grasp.

"You are paranoid," One of the others murmurs from behind a clipboard.  
Edward smirks and says, "And you are an idiot."

People tell him that the woman with knives for fingers is imaginary. That woman--his mother's impostor--no more melts into puddles than she does exist. No one is "really" out to get him.

But Edward knows better than to buy into that. They will not rest until he complies, and so he must be wary, especially for Alphonse's sake.

…Ah, "Alphonse".

Alphonse is Edward's favorite topic of discussion. Alphonse is his younger brother by a year, and they have experienced every hardship and triumph imaginable on a journey to restore their bodies to normal. Together, they committed the "ultimate sin"--and so it must be together that they fix it. Together. Everything together. Edward loves his little brother very much. He would die for him.

Edward would die for many people. He must protect Winry, a childhood friend and his automail mechanic, also. He secretly likes her a little but will not tell anyone. Al would never let him live that down.

He does not think he would ever die for Colonel Roy Mustang--his superior in the military--but the man has wrenched him from trouble on more than one occasion, despite being a "total bastard".

On the whole, Edward genuinely likes the people in his world. The others in this "new" world get frustrated when he discusses them, though. They tell him, in patient, patronizing tones, that there were never such people as "Winry" or "Alphonse".

One of the people who does this is Alfons Heiderich. Edward liked him at first. He looks like "his" Alphonse did. But Alfons is not much like Alphonse; he scoffs when Edward tries to explain alchemy, just like the others. One time, he told Edward he was concerned for him because he seemed to isolate himself from so many people.

Edward tries not to be impatient with Alfons. He just does not understand--he has never seen "his" world. If Ed can ever find his way back, perhaps he will show Alfons and prove him wrong.

But Alfons doesn't live long enough for him to do that.

Except a lot of things happen before Alfons's death.

He chases a man down who looks just like a Homunculus in his world, and, with his help, fights a gigantic serpent with whom he shares blood. He discovers that a second group is after him, a group known as "the Thule Society" with aims to infiltrate his world. Only he possesses the facilities to get them there.

Must be cautious.

He briefly runs into his little brother, while infiltrating their base, and he is very excited until Alphonse must leave again.

Noah believes him about finding his brother. Noah is a gypsy, and she likes hearing about his world. The others say she isn't real either. So does Alfons.

Alfons goes too far one night. Edward tries to warn Alfons that he is treading in dangerous waters. The research Alfons is conducting is tangled in the Thule Society's sinister plot to invade his world, and Ed thinks it needs to stop. Alfons does not. Alfons pushes him down on the stairs and says he's being ridiculous. Edward gets upset. A voice inside says "follow" when his roommate darts out into the night.

Things happen quickly, after that, because he learns Noah betrayed him, and he gets in a plane and flies with the Homunculus look-alike to the Thule base, and he crashes through the window, and, after a while, the dragon kills his father, too.

Then, with Alfons's help, he goes home. And he "does" save his world, by the way. Only he possesses the facilities to do so. When he comes back to the other world, Alphonse and Noah are there. And Alfons is dead. They tell him Alfons's death is not his fault.

Edward knows this, even though the others say Mr. Hess did not shoot him.

After the funeral, Noah leads him and Alphonse to a truck. There are other travelers on the truck--gypsies, like her--and, together, he and Alphonse board and head out of Germany.

Edward has a renewed sense of purpose. Now they are looking for a bomb. They alone can keep it from detonating. They alone have the facilities.

And as the transport vehicle pulls away from the apartment complex, the others ignore the lunatic in the back rambling passionately to empty space about caring for "the new world". He will be admitted to the asylum with a few other patients--also occasionally ambidextrous and winter-born.  
There, he also meets with the others, and they say these quirks lead to a greater cause. They call this cause "paranoid schizophrenia".  
But Edward Elric suspects there is little wrong with him.


End file.
